Some EU countries still banned from supplying vegetables to Russia - Onishchenko
MOSCOW. July 26 (Interfax) - The Russian sanitary authorities have yet to decide whether to extend the list of European countries that can resume vegetable supplies to Russia.
"Currently we are examining submitted documents. Questions remain. No decision has been made yet whether to allow them into the Russian market," head of the Russian consumer rights watchdog agency (Rospotrebnadzor) and Russia's Chief Sanitary Inspector Gennady Onishchenko told Interfax on Tuesday.
Countries on the waiting list include Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia and others, he said.
Earlier, vegetable imports were allowed from ten EU countries: Belgium, Hungary, Greece, Denmark, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, France and the Czech Republic.
The imports, which were suspended by the E. coli outbreak in the EU, will resume "in a special access regime," requiring confirmation of the safety of each vegetables consignment.
In early June, Russia banned the import of fresh vegetables from the EU following an outbreak of the deadly E. coli infection in Europe, primarily in Germany. Russia agreed to resume imports on the condition of product safety confirmed by EU laboratories and a certificate.
On Sunday, Germany reported six new cases of the intestinal infection, including hemolytic-uremic syndrome and two deaths caused by the intestinal infection, Onishchenko said.
"Unfortunately, the situation still raises concern," he said.
In all, the acute intestinal infection was registered in 16 countries, over 4,000 people fell ill, and 50 of them died, he said.
In July, Russia followed the EU in imposing a temporary ban on seeds from Egypt after the European Commission concluded that the E. coli outbreak was caused by fenugreek seeds (the legume family) imported from Egypt.
The EU inquiry into the E. coli outbreak contains multiple flaws, Onishchenko said.
